Writing Advice

[WriterofReapers]

I typically do a live stream. Even if nobody's watching, the thought that everything I'm doing is being recorded really helps keep me focused. As for going back and changing things, I don't really think there's anything wrong with doing that. If you think those changes will improve whatever it is you wrote, then change it.Also, I doubt many people are able to sit down and just write a full book. I certainly can't; it's taken me around eight months just to write seven chapters for my "book". :PIf you are having a hard time remembering things, try keeping a notebook handy. You can jot down whatever it is you don't want to forget in it, and it'll be there later in case you do. A phone could also work, depending on what kind you have.

[Kaleidoscope Tekulo]

Yeah, keeping a pen and some paper handy for ideas is a good idea. I sometimes jot things down in web diagrams or little pockets of ideas and try to see what ideas go together and what ones don't work. Or, I'll write a rough draft of my epic on paper, or I'll even draw an outline with stick figures.When you think of an overall story, my advice is to jot down a summery of how the story plays out, even if it's generic like "Hero L in setting X ends up defeating villain G and saving kingdom H and its ruler Z by using weapon M" Though, I'd also be open to changing things. I did this with my epic and wrote down the initial ending, then thought "Hmm, I don't want that to happen" and changed one little detail after another. The next thing I knew, I was writing in detail and figuring out how my characters worked, ideas for settings and side events, etc. It may be difficult to have the mentality of "I'm going to write a story. Let's see, the characters need to be like this, the ending needs to happen this way, the villain needs to be this cruel," etc. Connecting those dots aren't always the easiest, but if you start with an idea and gradually look back at your records and start building to them, you might just have a story in motion.

[Jean Valjean]

I have a ton of new ideas nowadays, far more than ever before. Part of it's because I've decided that my series is about the beginning and the end of a 53 million year era in history and I'm beginning to think more in terms of high fantasy. Part of it's because I'm studying all sorts of tropes and idioms that are helping me to better realize what my characters are.Anyway...I think that these tropes would help describe my initial villain Craytus. Actually, overall I looked more at villain tropes than hero tropes, so I can better label my villains than I can my heroes:Complete MonsterFor the EvulzCorrupterPlays Xanatos Speed Chess quite wellMagnificent _______Dangerously Genre SavvyHero KillerThe DreadedThe Heavy (at least in the first book)The DragonDid You Just Punch Out Cthulhu?And I named him just because in the RPG I'll be completing for review soon will be featuring him as The Heavy so people have a pretty good idea what they're dealing with. Meanwhile, he's associated with a few omnicidal maniacs (and the Amakor later on in the series also exemplify this trait) and an Eldritch Abomination.Which was the other thing I thought of posting. I'm glad I came across the term Eldritch Abomination now I understand better a few conventions better. Whether that's a good thing or not, I don't know. I just hope it doesn't make me limit the way I look at my own Eldritch Abomination. Still, now that I know that a definite such trope exists, it has really encouraged me to look at them more, and I really like them.Your Honor,Tyrannosaurus Kraggh

[BenLuke]

^ I see someone else has been reading that site. How many tabs do you have open? :PSo, I've been working on a Science Fiction short story for a class I'm taking. Problem is, I stink at coming up with cool sounding names for tech and such. Anyone have any suggestion.

[HeavyMetalSunshineSister]

Well, names for technology are usually descriptive, while still having a nice ring to it. Without knowing what the technology you need to name does, I can't really help you.Of course, if it was developed in war-time, it might have an obtuse code-name. Tanks are a good example of this.

[Jedi Knight Krazy]

There are a few easy types of technames you can use: -ACAD: Absurdly Catchy Acronym Device-SyllSplice: take the first syllable from words that describe the technology and smash 'em together. Star Wars does a lot of this.-Just capitalize What Describes It: Standard English words become a name as soon as you capitalize it. I'm taking advantage of that for Draconians, an Eons race.

[WriterofReapers]

^ I see someone else has been reading that site. How many tabs do you have open?

As much of a time-killer that site is, I do honestly believe it is a great way to learn how to categorize certain aspects of stories, which in turn can help you write them better. Not to mention, it's kinda fun to just rattle of a bunch like Kraggh just did (or at least I think it is).Just don't go there during NaNoWriMo.

[Jean Valjean]

Oh yes, definitely a time-killer! I've been addicted and I constantly forget where I started or what I even first went there to check out because I will fan out at perhaps twelve different junctions before going back...slightly. Then I still look up new stuff.Your Honor,Tyrannosaurus Kraggh

[BenLuke]

Why your first novel should be a murder mystery (Also: Criticism is important). Edited March 19, 2012 by BenLuke-116

[Jedi Knight Krazy]

Why your first novel should be a murder mystery (Also: Criticism is important).

[Edit: removed verbal abuse related to use of the word "you're"]OK, just listened to that. Sounds like great advice! I'm going to have to write a murder mystery now.... probably in the Eons universe, too.Hmmm... what's a good way to start? Should I come up with a few characters to be suspects? Think of a crazy way that somebody might die? Edited March 20, 2012 by Jedi Knight Krazy

[BenLuke]

Note to self: Don't try and post at night. Really, it makes you forget basic grammar.

[Jedi Knight Krazy]

Note to self: Don't try and post at night. Really, it makes you forget basic grammar.

Sorry... I probably should have left that alone... but... it hurt.

[Protodite Karzahni]

Hm, so for a college assignment, I've decided I'm going to take on the project of writing a novel. Not an entire novel, no. Well, probably not, I may finish it, who knows. For the same assignment, someone did and got their work published, so no pressure there.But the reason I ask for advice is because I intend to create an entirely new fantasy based land, and it's quite intimidating the number of little details I have to think up. Lately my thoughts have been on the lands cultures and God's, but eventually I'll have to think up their politics, history and the geography, which could get very difficult, if I want to keep magical realism. How can you get two different extreme climates in one land without it being interpreted as the author just wanting it to look cool? Anyone have any advice on planning all the finer details for a location in a fantasy novel?

[WriterofReapers]

Have a god in control of each one, or just make it so that they controlled them some time in the past. That way, your "Patchwork Map" can be explained by their influence.Just an idea... Unfortunately, I don't have any others right now.

[Protodite Karzahni]

Hmm, wow, I gotta say, I really like that idea. Given the God's control over individual elements, that would make sense...*Smashes head on desk* Why couldn't I think of that. T_T

[Nuile the Paracosmic Tulpa]

I would appreciate some opinions on these titles:

The Clew of the Suicide Note

The Clew of the Poison-Pen Letter

The Clew of the Second Suicide

The Clew of the Silenced Sisters

The Clew of the Absent Epistle

The Clew of the Missing Missive

I'd like to know what each told you about the story, what image it evoked, and which intrigued you the most.Thanks!

Sincerely, Nuile: Lunatic Wordsmith

[HeavyMetalSunshineSister]

Err.... I think the word you want might be "clue"

clew   [kloo] Show IPAnoun1.clue ( def. 1 ) .2.Nautical . either lower corner of a square sail or the afterlower corner of a fore-and-aft sail.3.a ball or skein of thread, yarn, etc.4.Usually, clews. the rigging for a hammock.5.Theater . a metal device holding scenery lines controlled byone weighted line.

With regards to the issue of climate, one obvious solution would be to map it out, and figure out what the actual climate would be. You can have forests on one side of a mountain range and desert on the other, because of the rain shadow of the mountains. Stuff like that.

[Jedi Knight Krazy]

In geography/climate: You can have some fun with climates if magic is involved, like you said.In Eons, for example, an elf is trying to observe dragons on the Seia peninsula (heavily forested), and they kept burning down huge chunks of the forest, so he set up a spell where a certain amount of smoke in the air triggers sudden, heavy rain to put out a fire. The net effect is a random downpour every few days that only lasts a few minutes and leaves everyone soaked and confused.I think that little details like that give fantasy regions a lot of character.

[Nuile the Paracosmic Tulpa]

Aspersions on my vocabulary are not the kind of feedback I was requesting. I understand, however, that not everybody knows that clew is an archaic spelling of the word clue (which is, in fact, a mere alteration of clew), a spelling that was used during the period in which my novel takes place, and therefore aids to evince the time setting. Most dictionaries show that clew means the same as clue, but does not explain that it was a form popular in the days of Agatha Christie, Mary Roberts Rinehart, Arthur B. Reeve, et cetera. So, I thank you for trying to be helpful, and I'm happy that I could inform you of a fact which you had not known previously and that most dictionaries neglect.Now, you have brought up another matter. It might be a natural inclination to think, "If this fool can't even get the spelling right in his title, why should I read his book?" But there again, if you saw a novel on a shelf with what you thought was a misspelling, wouldn't you be willing to trust that all the people involved in the process of publishing the book knew what they were talking about, and perhaps look up the word to find out they were right? Mightn't you then feel guilty enough to read the novel more leniently?

Sincerely, Nuile: Lunatic Wordsmith

Edited March 20, 2012 by Nuile: Lunatic Wordsmith

[Jean Valjean]

Speaking of the changing English language, I'm wondering how to deal with the language 53 million years into the future among the people who still use it. I don't want to just change some lexicon and call it good, because in only a thousand years the language of The Epic of Beowulf is hardly even recognizable as English. Although, that was during a time when the English language wasn't as well recorded and was harder to standardize, since people from one region couldn't instantly communicate with people from another. Yet, even in spite of technological advancements, it would be ridiculous to assume any language would stick around for so long.My only real explanation for a while was that a Kitilik linguist named "I", after reaching an old age, decided to standardize the English language in such a way that it didn't change over time, so that older works didn't need translating every four score and seven generations. Although that didn't sound like something he would do, because I'm sure he would like to see languages grow.My newer explanation is that there are a few immortal characters within the series, and their languages tend to persevere in the same form over time. Speaking of which, that leads into a long-running language issue I've been having for a while:The common language of Aarde has, for a while, been Nederlandse (Dutch). I chose it because Aarde, the Dutch word for Earth, is pretty cool. And Vader is a Dutch word. Though that raised a question for me, and being a perfectionist I couldn't hand-wave it. Why would an alien world speak the same language of a preexisting Earth language? Granted, it saved me from creating a language from scratch, but again, being a perfectionist, I couldn't just call it a coincidence. As it happens, I still don't want to create a fictional language, even if it's based very closely on Dutch.So my explanation is that the Aardse people speak the language of their oldest member. That would be Master Legious. And once upon a time, he visited Earth through the Vergeving Doorway. At least once. For sure once right after Bill Clinton wins the 1992 election, but due to his age of 9000+ years I'm considering maybe a little farther. In any case, he decided he liked Dutch and brought it home. By that time, he was the oldest Aardse. The Aardses, being able to speak any language they encounter, took on his tongue.However, he gets his wings cut off. And what's more, he turns into a villainous mastermind who corrupts most of the multiverse. So the Aardse race essentially disowns him, and after a while Silver Bird becomes the oldest. Silver Bird, also having visited Earth, chose modern German, and for the longest time this would be the primary language of the Defenders who wielded Levenzwaards.Although many normal Defenders who were not Aardses or did not wield Levenzwaards or magic were different. I would imagine that Lucy, the immortal Member of the Second Empire, would speak English (although I definitely see him being able to communicate in quite a few Romance languages, considering I gave him a name derived from Latin).That way, various main characters who time-skipped 53 million years into the future can communicate with their fellow Defenders. So English is not going to be the universal language, but it should be widely spoken enough that occasionally I can rhyme in my native tongue, as well as employ forms of rhetoric that I take for granted. There will still be alterations made, however, since I believe that Lucy would simplify the spelling system somewhat. I as the narrator will still use common English, but Lucy would have probably made the pronunciation simpler, like in Latin, and would have inserted Thetas and Engs for "th" and "ng" (and even then, "th" can be pronounced two different ways in the phrase "this thing"). So in some ways, it's still developed to have a different feel than normal English. And quite possibly, I might end up using an alphabet devised by the Kitiliks, since their language was seen for thousands of years as the academic language.There's also a language that I do plan on fully developing called nuadine (not capitalized). And I imagine it being sort of an evil counterpart to Silver Bird's German.But anyway, yeah, several prominent characters are immortal and their languages are spoken after the 53 million year gap. That definitely sounds more natural than using Kr. I. Speaking of which, I wonder if the Kitilik language will change over time. That's perhaps the only other language that I'd be willing to invent.EDIT: By the way, I definitely endorse the idea of drawing a map. There are some programs out there that make it really easy. Although drawing's still fun, especially when you introduce geopolitics, which can easily stimulate general ideas for cultures, and that can be more fun than inventing extreme climates.Part of me really wants to suggest Fractal Terrains 3, although it would cost some money, and even though I'm saving up for it I have a hunch you wouldn't want to spend that money for one project. But hey, just throwing that out there in case it ever interests you enough.Your Honor,Tyrannosaurus Kraggh Edited March 21, 2012 by Tyrannosaurus Kraggh

[Jedi Knight Krazy]

Aspersions on my vocabulary are not the kind of feedback I was requesting. I understand, however, that not everybody knows that clew is an archaic spelling of the word clue (which is, in fact, a mere alteration of clew), a spelling that was used during the period in which my novel takes place, and therefore aids to evince the time setting. Most dictionaries show that clew means the same as clue, but does not explain that it was a form popular in the days of Agatha Christie, Mary Roberts Rinehart, Arthur B. Reeve, et cetera. So, I thank you for trying to be helpful, and I'm happy that I could inform you of a fact which you had not known previously and that most dictionaries neglect.Now, you have brought up another matter. It might be a natural inclination to think, "If this fool can't even get the spelling right in his title, why should I read his book?" But there again, if you saw a novel on a shelf with what you thought was a misspelling, wouldn't you be willing to trust that all the people involved in the process of publishing the book knew what they were talking about, and perhaps look up the word to find out they were right? Mightn't you then feel guilty enough to read the novel more leniently?

Sincerely,

Nuile: Lunatic Wordsmith

...Nah, still looks like you can't spell :PIn all seriousness, I think using an archaic spelling is going to turn people away, even if they know it's correct for the time period. It gives the impression of stuffiness... it actually reminds me of Hermione Granger reading "Moste Potente Potions", a title used for (I think) comedic effect.I'll give feedback on the specific titles, though:The Clew of the Suicide Note: Kind of boring, honestly. A suicide note is something fairly common to start a story and it doesn't really tell me what's unique about yours.The Clew of the Poison-Pen Letter: Now this is interesting. A letter written with poison? So the person to read it accidently brushes it with their hand, and dies a few days later... or maybe I don't know what I'm talking about. I might swap it for "Poison-Ink" because that rolls off the tongue better (provided that's still accurate - I don't know your story).The Clew of the Second Suicide: The implication of the first suicide is surprisingly intruiging, but otherwise it doesn't stand out much.The Clew of the Silenced Sisters: Hmm? If they're being silenced then how are the giving anybody clues? And it seems like you're trying too hard to start the words with the same sound (there's a fancy word for that but I forgot it)The Clew of the Absent Epistle: Interesting - but it has a slight stuffiness problem because it really only means that a book is missing.The Clew of the Missing Missive: Now you're just trying too hard to be clever.@Language: I prefer to just translate whatever language is being used into English, rather than imply that the characters are actually speaking English. Like you, though, I have a few characters that live upwards of 4000 years, so I'll need to come up with some excuse that they speak the same language as modern characters... or... I'll just not worry about it. My universe, my rules. I think my readers will be more interested in how they managed to live 4000 years than how they speak the present language.(That said, I do intend to avert the "all aliens speak English" trope) Edited March 21, 2012 by Jedi Knight Krazy

[Jean Valjean]

I hate saying that something's translated, because there are so many thins that you can't translate. Rhetoric being a prime example, but also semantics. it's something that constantly comes to my mind, and I often think of something being translated "now would an alien really say something like that?" Like the phrase "shut up." Perhaps there's a unique word for that phrase. Really, in order to translate something in a futuristic setting properly I'd have to constantly go off into unique lexicon, which you might call "stuffy".So basically, I want to write things in plain everyday terms so I don't have to think excessively about style (and so the dialogue doesn't alienate the readers), and beyond that, my first motivation was so that I can write in rhymes that would make sense in-universe. It absolutely bugs me when in stuff like Doctor Who and Pendragon everything the main character hears is translate into English, and yet when someone rhymes in a foreign language it conveniently happens to rhyme in English. The third reason I feel that some Earth ought to carry on is because near the end of the first half of the series, English is the primary language of the growing human empire, and when a huge chunk of the Defenders gets stuck in a pocket dimension that makes all those 53 million years seem like only one year, I don't want there to be a language barrier between them and Defenders left in normal time.So for the moment, the concept of immortals keeping an archaic language around seems to resonate with me.Meanwhile, I'm thinking of experimenting with human characters who only speak Japanese or Portuguese, which would naturally fit into some fun series within the 53 million year time gap. It would be fun to go cosmopolitan. I know for sure that Theo Zweifel can speak in German and Italian, possibly even French.Your Honor,Tyrannosaurus Kraggh

[HeavyMetalSunshineSister]

The language bit is kind of funny to me, actually, because the Diemawr speak perfect Welsh. In what I'm writing, that's handwaved as an odd coincidence, but used as a bit of a running joke throughout. Because I want it to stick out as sort of a weird thing, I don't have to be bothered with explaining it, because it won't seem so delightfully absurd once it's been explained.

[Jedi Knight Krazy]

I go in a few directions for my languages. English doesn't exist in my universe, but my main characters speak the common human language, which, for my purposes, happens to sound exactly like English - kind of like "Basic" in Star Wars.Most alien races speak their own languages, but I don't plan to invent words and grammar for them - just write things like "He muttered something in dwarvish". Most aliens also know the human language because humans are a powerful race and are too lazy to learn everyone else's.In fact, I only know one fact about an alien language in my universe, and I use it for comedic effect. In Sedigoan, the word for a cheesecake-like dessert is often used as an affirmative - kind of like saying "piece of cake" in English. It's common enough that many translate the word as "OK" - but it only works like that in certain contexts.So at one point, when a few Sedigoans are freaking out, one character tries to tell them "It's OK! It's OK!" in their language - but winds up shouting "Cheesecake! Cheesecake!" In spite of (or maybe because of) this, she manages to get their attention.Elves (who have been missing from the known galaxy for several thousand years) speaking the human language is kind of a kludge - it's basically a subconscious telepathic power that lets them read someone's mind and learn their language.

[Jean Valjean]

I don't know whether I would consider it a kludge or not, but the Aardses can speak in any language that they encounter. But that's mainly because I think it fits them, because they have many "angelic" traits (although back in the day the spiritual idea of angels could better be described as eldritch abominations, but that's not the association the modern reader will have). I'm also considering the idea that they're born with a knowledge of their own history, to an extent. I don't know how far back that goes or how in-depth that knowledge is, or even if it's an idea that I want to stick to.However, as far as magic goes I'm beginning to figure out something similar to Tolkien's system. As with the elves, there are certain things that are magical by our standards but aren't by theirs. There are basic ways that Aardses interact with nature that they would consider, well, interacting with nature, whereas truly magical acts are often spontaneous and can't be done twice. Although generally, it takes a pretty powerful sorcerer to cast bigger spells. So yeah, that's pretty much Lord of the Rings, just with a slightly different feel due to the context of the world it's in.Your Honor,Tyrannosaurus Kraggh

[HeavyMetalSunshineSister]

Right now I've got two worlds I'm working on building. The first is the sci-fi thing I've been working on for a while, with loads of warfare, political intrigue, and temporal shenanigans. The second is completely insane, featuring superheroes, Death, fantastical elements, and a few other things, all written with what is intended to be rather Pythonesque humor.The trouble comes with deciding whether I want to focus on the somewhat-serious sci-fi story, or the flatly absurdist story. One of them has a well-developed setting, partly-developed characters, and a general universe in which to set any stories I feel like writing. The other has a grab-bag of lunatic characters, a few of which I might as well explain now.-Death: Death is sort of the comedic straight-man in this thing, and, in a way, resembles Terry Pratchett's version of the character - generally calm, sensible, and rather inclined towards a policy of non-interference in major events. The focus will usually be off of Death when he features in the story, because, by himself, he's kind of a boring character, but in a supporting role, he could make things more interesting.-Lenny Karls: A sun god living in London. The idea in this universe with regards to gods is that it is possible to have multiple gods of the same thing, and they tend to sub-divide their areas of influence to avoid competition. As a result, Lenny is pretty much the sun god for the UK. He is also a terribly selfish, spiteful person, and will punish people for minor slights by either permanently deflecting all sunlight away from them, or torching them. I'm not entirely sure where I'm going to go with this fellow, but I do know that, at least at the start and probably throughout, he is not supposed to be anything like a likable character.-[unnamed God]: Not sure if this guy's ever going to have a name, partly because he's such a very minor character. He's one of a small number of unique gods, and he rides around the desert on a donkey selling limes to people. -[unnamed Superhero]: Current working title "Captain Wonderbread". Real name definitely never going to be revealed. This fellow appears to be permanently cross-eyed, is rather tall and very thin with large, spidery hands, and speaks in an airy, not-quite-all-there voice. Tends to refer to himself in the third-person. He is notable for being both intentionally creepy and unable to function normally in a social situation. Frequently warns that such-and-such action would make him very sad, though whether this is meant to be a guilt-trip or a vague threat is unknown. When enraged, he gives no verbal warning, but his eyes straighten out, and he produces a random object (frozen breadstick, rubber ducky, slinky, etc.) and beats whoever made him angry to death with it. To make the beating more savage than proper description could do justice to, I'm never going to describe the process in writing, so I'll just show some indication of the results and let the reader's imagination do the rest.

[Jean Valjean]

I remember you mentioning Lenny! Although I was wondering if you could make him likeable as far as how he fits into the comedic narrative. Like, you don't necessarily like the character himself, but you like his place in the story.Anyway, sometimes I find myself in a similar predicament. IDES is a very involving series and I have a giant pile filled with notes I've taken (most of which I don't share on these forums). Yet I also get a kick our of Four-I's and their weird shenanigans. One is a major continuity, but the other is lighthearted and lovable characters without continuity. And you could say that their humor is Python-esque in that it's very witty, although the characters are nerds and completely avert stupid jokes. Still, there's a bit of absurdity in the situational humor and how completely sane intellectuals will deal with it.Now normally, it shouldn't be too difficult choosing between which writing project to dedicate more time and energy to, but when they're of completely different genres it gets tricky. Between two different works of epic fantasy, you can probably feel for yourself which you personally find more compelling as an epic, but between nerd humor and space opera, there's less to compare. I feel like I have a split personality and I become a different person for each project.That all leads back to your dilemma between which story to focus on. They're both fun, they're both unique, and chances are they're both good representations of your personality and interests. It would be week advice to suggest solving it with a coin toss. It's especially hard it they both require the same amount of involvement, but my hunches tell me that the insane story is easier to write, if not shorter. The simple pleasures of reading and writing often are. When coming to such crossroads, I think it might be beneficial to choose the tangent from time to time. It's the author's equivalent to stretching his leg muscles and getting some fresh air. At some point the bigger project gets left on the shelf. I've gone there, taken that hiatus, and came back with some new perspective on my work thanks to Four-I's. I don't know what works for you, but since you brought it up I can only imagine that you would appreciate what I have to say based upon my similar experiences.Your Honor,Tyrannosaurus Kraggh

[HeavyMetalSunshineSister]

Lenny is probably going to be one of those characters that readers enjoy reading about even though they'd be enormously pleased if he got hit by a bus, yes.The trouble with choosing between these two is magnified by the fact that they're both rather expansive things, with numerous stories that could be told within them. What I'll probably end up doing is just alternating short stories - whenever I feel like writing one or the other, I'll hammer out thirty pages or so on a given scenario within the world in question, and move on.

[Nuile the Paracosmic Tulpa]

Kraggh, I believe your situation is the same as mine, only in reverse. The problem with historical fiction is that most archaic words aren't widely known and your general audience won't appreciate them. The problem with future fiction--if that's the term--is that any words you invent will, obviously, be unknown to your reader and that would probably annoy them even more. But you're a chronicler. Of course you chronicle in your own language, and naturally you translate. As you said, some things don't translate, but really, they do. Part of a translator's job is to alter the context to clarify meaning--to paraphrase. No one could really remember everything everyone said verbatim, anyway; it's only logical to assume the translator's doing a little paraphrasing.But if that's not good enough for you, don't bypass the problem, plow through it. If your story involves magic, perhaps there's a translation spell--if, as in your case, it's a sci-fi, what could be easier than to create a translation device? You know your story infinitely better than I, but surely there's some way you could work out a logical solution that explains why we can understand the aliens or futurians or whomsoever rather than merely excusing or ignoring the fact.

...Nah, still looks like you can't spell :PIn all seriousness, I think using an archaic spelling is going to turn people away, even if they know it's correct for the time period. It gives the impression of stuffiness... itactually reminds me of Hermione Granger reading "Moste Potente Potions", a title used for (I think) comedic effect.I'll give feedback on the specific titles, though:The Clew of the Suicide Note: Kind of boring, honestly. A suicide note is something fairly common to start a story and it doesn't really tell me what's unique about yours.The Clew of the Poison-Pen Letter: Now this is interesting. A letter written with poison? So the person to read it accidently brushes it with their hand, and dies a few days later... or maybe I don't know what I'm talking about. I might swap it for "Poison-Ink" because that rolls off the tongue better (provided that's still accurate - I don't know your story).The Clew of the Second Suicide: The implication of the first suicide is surprisingly intruiging, but otherwise it doesn't stand out much.The Clew of the Silenced Sisters: Hmm? If they're being silenced then how are the giving anybody clues? And it seems like you're trying too hard to start the words with the same sound (there's a fancy word for that but I forgot it)The Clew of the Absent Epistle: Interesting - but it has a slight stuffiness problem because it really only means that a book is missing.The Clew of the Missing Missive: Now you're just trying too hard to be clever.

Point granted. Being right doesn't win over readers. The word's alliteration. One person told me alliterations scream mysteries; to me, they scream cheap mysteries. To be honest, I didn't like any of these titles--except the prefix, until nearly everyone I asked objected to it. But, what I said previously notwithstanding, that is the kind of feedback I was looking for. I wanted opinions on my titles and I got them. A writer has to take the criticisms with the compliments, and accept that there will be far more of the former. So I reconsider the prefix, and all of my titles. One new thought I had was Death is Easy . . . Life is Hard, or present-tense verbs as an alternative. Or perhaps keep death and only change life to living. Your thoughts?

Sincerely, Nuile: Lunatic Wordsmith

[American Hustle]

I want to write, but at the same time, I somewhat nervous about it. I honestly don't know if I could get the story published that's in my head, right now. Basically it's about a young woman living in an underground society after they were forced underground by Dragons. She then goes to the surface one day on a mission to retrieve food and somehow, she manages to kill the dragon after a long battle. This makes her a hero to the society and a symbol. Soon news of a rebellion is brewing against the dragons, but the woman wants nothing to do with it. She just wants to protect her five-year old son. But the dragons will not simply bygones by bygones and plan on punishing the humans further because of her actions.It's basically a fantasy-type story, set in a world where all of the kingdoms and empires got wiped out by the dragons. The surviving humans then fled deep underground where they would be safe...

[Jean Valjean]

I like that Death and Life are both monosyllabic. "Living" would offset the balance within the title a little.Anyway, there are certain things that don't translate well within my story. For example, Quarr's tag phrase in English is "I see you", but in the nuadine language there are several words for "I" with multiple different meanings. The word he uses, "redra", has pretty deep implications. The same goes for the word "you".There's also the trope of being cut off right before revealing an essential piece of information. "I hid it - AAARGH!" But what if the language being translated puts the prep phrases at the beginning of the sentence? Again, not something I want to think too much about, or at least not the majority of the time.I'm willing to think about the implications of a translated context, but at times it doesn't work within my story, so I guess I'll plow right through it, like you said. And my explanation is that of "personal languages" used by immortals.Your Honor,Tyrannosaurs Kraggh

[Jedi Knight Krazy]

I want to write, but at the same time, I somewhat nervous about it. I honestly don't know if I could get the story published that's in my head, right now. Basically it's about a young woman living in an underground society after they were forced underground by Dragons. She then goes to the surface one day on a mission to retrieve food and somehow, she manages to kill the dragon after a long battle. This makes her a hero to the society and a symbol. Soon news of a rebellion is brewing against the dragons, but the woman wants nothing to do with it. She just wants to protect her five-year old son. But the dragons will not simply bygones by bygones and plan on punishing the humans further because of her actions.It's basically a fantasy-type story, set in a world where all of the kingdoms and empires got wiped out by the dragons. The surviving humans then fled deep underground where they would be safe...

It sounds like a really interesting story with a surprising amount of depth. On the surface it sounds a little bit like the Hunger Games with dragons, but I'm sure that once you dive into the details it's going to stand out a lot. I personally wouldn't worry about getting published at this point - just write the story and see how it turns out.Interestingly, one of my first stories also involves a human rebellion against dragon oppression, with one of the main characters more interested in protecting his family than freeing his people. Maybe we could compare notes

I like that Death and Life are both monosyllabic. "Living" would offset the balance within the title a little.Anyway, there are certain things that don't translate well within my story. For example, Quarr's tag phrase in English is "I see you", but in the nuadine language there are several words for "I" with multiple different meanings. The word he uses, "redra", has pretty deep implications. The same goes for the word "you".There's also the trope of being cut off right before revealing an essential piece of information. "I hid it - AAARGH!" But what if the language being translated puts the prep phrases at the beginning of the sentence? Again, not something I want to think too much about, or at least not the majority of the time.I'm willing to think about the implications of a translated context, but at times it doesn't work within my story, so I guess I'll plow right through it, like you said. And my explanation is that of "personal languages" used by immortals.Your Honor,Tyrannosaurs Kraggh

I'll share a lesson I learned from game design: realism and entertainment are mutually exclusive goals. Worrying about the nuances of language and translation means that you'll be distracted from writing the best story you can. Only you and your nerdiest readers will understand how the languages work, so just write what you want. Don't let the rules of your own universe limit you.As for your pet peeve of "translated" poems/songs rhyming in English, maybe you could write them out in the actual language, where it rhymes, then let a character translate them into English, where it doesn't.

[HeavyMetalSunshineSister]

I'll share a lesson I learned from game design: realism and entertainment are mutually exclusive goals. Worrying about the nuances of language and translation means that you'll be distracted from writing the best story you can. Only you and your nerdiest readers will understand how the languages work, so just write what you want. Don't let the rules of your own universe limit you.

I'm finding this rather applicable with my science-fiction thing. There's one race in there that is kind-of-but-not-really a hivemind (memories are shared, they're all very aware of what each other is thinking and feeling, and they're capable of putting their heads together to solve a problem without communicating out loud or even meeting directly), and, if I were to go with realism, the nature of thoughts as electrical impulses and the fact that these tend not to transmit through the air very well, much less through the void of space, would completely ruin these guys. As they're more fun with the quasi-hivemind than they are without it, realism is definitely a thing I kick to the curb when it suits me.

[TNTOS]

Yeah I generally don't bother worrying about language and translation in my stories. It's just not that important and, IMO, actually takes away from the quality of the story I'm trying to tell. I'm writing a story, not an English-to-whatever-fictinal-language-my-characters-are-speaking dictionary, so I don't give the subject that much thought in comparison to other aspects of the story.-TNTOS-

[Jedi Knight Krazy]

So... now I've got a problem of my own. I have a race in Eons called Draconians - they can shapeshift at will between human form and a dragon-like form. What I can't decide is the size relationship between the two. Right now I have the two forms at roughly the same eye level to each other... then I realized that the dragon form would be huge. (I use a standard four-legged two-wing long-neck design) Originally I didn't like the idea of the dragon form being shorter than the human, but I'm starting to reconsider. I also briefly considered a bipedal dragon form and immediately threw it out. I know this really comes down to my personal preference, but I'm really bad at visualizing things, so I wanted to get some input. Basically, their size affects the story and mood - I want Draconians to fit inside buildings, for one. They should also be intimidating (which is why I didn't want them to look up to a human), but relateable to the reader.On a personal level, many Draconians had no idea of their shapeshifting power before the story started and lived most of their lives as humans. Imagine being the friend of a person who turns out to be a Draconian!

[HeavyMetalSunshineSister]

Perhaps the draconic form could be considerably more slender and serpentine than the human form.I would suggest that they follow the law of conservation of mass, and the I-totally-just-made-this-up law of conservation of limbs. There's got to be some kind of advantage to their human form, or else they'd nevier use it - if you give the draconic form a posture somewhat like a velociraptor or a bird of prey, and give it wings instead of arms, then the manual dexterity of the human form could be their incentive for keeping and using that form, while the wings, speed, and combat prowess of the draconic form would make it quite useful as well.I know you've said that you've already considered and discarded a bipedal draconic form, but something like this could be the solution to your problem.

[Kaleidoscope Tekulo]

Hmm... I'm a bit curious now, and I might just know the answer already, but which do you guys prefer; Simple, surreal stories, or very intricate, detailed stories?An example of simple and surreal would be along the lines of Hans Christian Andersen or Princess Tutu (anime/manga. Love both variations, but I prefer the anime. There are a million and one things that don't make sense in the universe, but if you question them, then curiosity tends to ruin the theme of the story). Something detailed might be Lord of the Rings or a fantasy world with in-depth science/laws. Kinda like Bionicle in 2001 compared to the later years where everything exploded and got confusing to newer fans.

[Jedi Knight Krazy]

Perhaps the draconic form could be considerably more slender and serpentine than the human form.I would suggest that they follow the law of conservation of mass, and the I-totally-just-made-this-up law of conservation of limbs. There's got to be some kind of advantage to their human form, or else they'd nevier use it - if you give the draconic form a posture somewhat like a velociraptor or a bird of prey, and give it wings instead of arms, then the manual dexterity of the human form could be their incentive for keeping and using that form, while the wings, speed, and combat prowess of the draconic form would make it quite useful as well.I know you've said that you've already considered and discarded a bipedal draconic form, but something like this could be the solution to your problem.

Well, dragons (and Draconians by extension) in my story are more bulky than serpentine. Serpentine dragons bug me for some reason... as do dragons with merged forelimbs/wings.Maybe some more background will help... the vast majority of Draconians are corrupt, evil, bloodthirsty, etc. Basically chalk it up to human nature - give a human the body and power of a dragon, and it's going to get to his head. The use of the human form is what sets the good guys apart from the bad: the bad guys solve all their problems by killing and overpowering, which a Draconian excels at, while the good guys use their dragon forms only as a tool to defend humanity.Thinking through it a bit more, I think I want to lean on the side of big and intimidating. Not only does it make the bad guys more threatening, but it makes an interesting personal struggle for the "good guy" Draconians who don't want to be feared, as well as the humans who have to trust them. The main constraint, I think, is the fact that they have to fit in buildings for certain parts of the story to work. Now I've just got to figure out the biggest dragon size that can squeeze through a door... @Tekulo: I tend to prefer the detailed fantasy worlds, but it can be easily overdone if explaining the way the world works slows down the pace, or causes the author to limit themselves. Case in point: InhEragon. The second book's pacing is painfully slow because Paolini chose then to explain in detail how the world, and particularly magic, works. In addition, it limits the entertainment factor - his magic favors small, calculated, microscopic actions, but magic is usually much more interesting when it's about throwing fireballs around and blowing stuff up (Fus ro dah anyone?)I think Harry Potter gets the balance between story and world detail right - when a specific spell or potion is brought to the foreground, you know it's going to play a big part in the story later. If it appears in a passing mention, it exists only to make the world more intricate and quirky.

[Jean Valjean]

There's hard sci-fi and there's soft sci-fi. I'm a hard sci-fi author. Especially when it comes to social sciences, which I really want to do full and proper justice. I give a bit more lenience when it comes to technology, although I still try very hard to avoid breaking the ropes of willing suspension of disbelief and at least aim for consistency and continuity. When it comes to biology, I almost always play sci-fi hardball and stick exclusively to what's possible instead of what sounds good, with the exception of a few species from other dimensions. The same goes for planetary science. And ultimately I consider the social implications of every sci-fi concept I introduce.For example, I'm beginning to have far more starfish aliens now.I'm not the author who's going to try and explain physics and biology to the reader, though. I've seen people who've tried to do that. Perhaps I'll explain exactly what a device is and give hints to the origins of the technology, but I really don't need to give all the details. The reader will get the basic atmosphere, though, and it will be of a place that sounds pretty plausible, like the worlds of Ridley Scott's Alien and the used future of Star Wars.Ultimately, however, I still will use some modern English 53 million years later, because characters from 53 million years before will be carried over, and many of them spoke English. Except by then it will be called Lucian. It's relevant for in-story reasons, so I don't see why that's such a bad thing that would detract from the story.Your Honor,Tyrannosaurus Kraggh

[HeavyMetalSunshineSister]

I tend to prefer hard sci-fi, but if it gets in the way of me telling a good story, I'll toss it. For example, I'm not going to include realistic times for space travel, because then nothing would get done. I'm not going to exclude time travel, because that wouldn't be as fun.